Leadership magazine Nov/Dec 2015 V45 No 2 | Page 17

For example, the key role of the administrator in leading implementation is specif ically addressed in the chapter titled
“Supporting High-Quality Common Core
Mathematics Instruction.” This chapter also
includes an observation guide of student and
teacher actions for the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Likewise, leadership and
professional collaborations are addressed in
Chapter 11 of the ELA/ELD Framework,
“Implementing High-Quality ELA/Literacy
and ELD Instruction: Professional Learning, Leadership, and Program Supports.”
For administrators, the frameworks provide clarity and consistency by establishing
clear expectations, providing the resource
materials for professional development, and
serving as a reference guide for coaching and
feedback.
Each grade/course chapter provides
an overview of the grade span, grade or
course. While this overview is a great start
for teachers, grade level chapters are only a
beginning. For example, the chapter, “Supporting High-Quality Common Core
Mathematics Instruction” includes links to
outside resources that have grade level content and practice videos for observation and
professional development.
By using resources referenced in the
frameworks, as opposed to other open
source material, educators can be sure they
are learning from materials that are aligned
with the state standards. Their acquired expertise will then allow them to more clearly
vet other resources.
The ELA/ELD Framework shifts the
paradigm from a fixed “scope and sequence”
or pacing guide and provides ways to look
at clustering standards to support meaning
making and application. Both frameworks
work to shift instruction away from “teaching to the test” to teaching to the highest
levels of critical thinking and application of
knowledge.
Both frameworks provide a guide for
districts, principals and teachers to develop
their assessment vocabularies with clear
definitions of comprehensive “assessment
cycles” that include formative assessments,
unit assessments, benchmark assessments,
and summative assessments.
Most teachers will look at the overview

of their grade level in the frameworks, and
some will read the entire chapter. However,
administrators can use the frameworks to
provide the structure for coherent professional development over multiple years,
aligning professional development to 1) understanding the Common Core standards as
they are implemented in California; 2) clustering standards for meaningful implementation; 3) using the frameworks to develop
effective lessons; 4) using the frameworks as
models for instructional delivery, including
scaffolding and enhancement; 5) using the
frameworks to guide assessment cycles; and
6) using the frameworks to guide the selection of instructional materials.

Starting with an overview
Since the immediate interest of teachers is
to know their grade level, that is the easiest
place to start. However, taking a step back,
the overview chapters then summarize how
the entire framework is organized and the
big picture for implementation. If teachers
have not already done so, backward mapping
a standard from the 11th and 12th grade

span in ELA and ELD and a domain in
mathematics helps teachers to see how each
grade level provides the foundation for the
next.
This pattern is evident in the numbering
of standards, including those that do not
have a component in a particular grade and
are identified as not present; for example,
certain foundation skills in ELA and ELD.
Furthermore, having teachers highlight the
difference in wording of the same standards
between grade levels/spans will emphasize
key verbs and adverbs and the coherent progression across grade levels/spans.
Chapter 1 of the ELA/ELD framework,
“Overview of the Standards,” has three examples of standards that have been backward mapped: Structure of the standards for
ELA/Literacy; ܘYK\